


Aneth Ara (My Safe Place)

by Leseparatist



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 14:01:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3122837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leseparatist/pseuds/Leseparatist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She is not alone. No one is ever alone in the forest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aneth Ara (My Safe Place)

**Aneth Ara**

**(My Safe Place)**

 

She cannot remember a time when she didn’t dream about the forest. Her clan did not always live in one, obviously, but even when she didn’t, the forest was ready to blossom behind her eyelids the moment she closed her eyes.

“This is where your magic comes from, Da’len,” the Keeper explained it to her. “Cherish this forest, let it grow.”

Lately, however, the forest of her dreams has changed. The well-known paths of her memories have been taken over by weeds; roots sprout from the ground, as though to trip her. She finds no peace among the trees; even the leaves appear to be whispering something just out of her hearing.

And that is only the beginning. Night falls in her dreams, and a large full moon moves across the cloudless sky, but its light is treacherous, casting shadows that correspond to no shapes. She walks carefully, looking over her shoulder.

She is not alone. No one is ever alone in the forest, but the presence she senses feels powerful and dangerous; and focused on her as much as she is on it.

If she looks just out of the corner of her eye, she can almost see it; a large dark shape, paws that make no sound against the dead leaves, a suggestion of teeth.

She knows what comes next. She breaks into a run, at first calmly, almost like running for exercise, and then faster, until her bare feet hurt from the impact; she feels her lungs burning with effort.

It is her forest, the source of her strength, but she is not alone here anymore, and the creature sharing her aneth ara is hunting her. She does not sense evil, not quite, but it is predatory, and it is focused on her.

She runs faster, and faster still, breaking through the pain of her body to the other side, to mental clarity and elation, even as the creature gains on her, its breath now hot on her neck. She must not stumble.

She wakes up aroused, wet, and turns to Solas. He is awake too, and needs no explanation.

She promises herself she will ask him about her dreams tomorrow.


End file.
